The best early season in many years

created by matt | 18/12/2017

Superlatives are too common in our age and memories fade over the years, but it is hard to remember a better start to the winter in Austria in many, many years.

In an age of powder alerts, social media and Photoshop it is easy to get swayed by marketing hype. Everyone is sharing and news is amplified to the extent that is hard to avoid. Sometimes it lacks substance. Winter 17/18 though is no bluff. Powder day after powder already and it is still mid-December.

Powder sessions are not unusual on the Austrian glaciers at this time of the year but right down to the valley there is banked snow with tracks everywhere. Around Innsbruck there have been several exceptional days in Axamer Lizum and the Nordpark, whilst less iconic backcountry resorts like Mutters and Götzens have also been delivering some epic off-piste.

Saturday was spent in Mutters with clear skies, deserted slopes and fresh snow from the end of the week. We were in the Leutasch- Seefeld region on Saturday night and the roads were closed due to snow - the ploughs were just overwhelmed. Then it was back to Götzens on Sunday for some tree skiing. A truly epic weekend around Innsbruck.

And why look back? The coming days are set to be cold and snowy, clear slightly for the weekend and then comes the next dump. In many ways Innsbruck is a fool-proof option at this time of the year, it is either cold and clear on the glaciers or cloudy and deep in the forests around the city. Win-win!